musings and inspirations in art, fashion, craft, decor, creative business and creative living by artist Traci Bautista
be inspired...live a beautiful life...

my style reMIX blog series continues with a fun and festive DIY party crowns tutorial. This is a great project to do with the kiddies or as a party craft during your holiday celebrations. The no-sew fabric crowns are made from recycled fabric, painted grocery bags and colorful embellishments. They make great photo props and party favors. This collaborative project was created with my nieces during our family art play date.

BASIC project instructions: I cut apart Whole Foods paper grocery bags into large pieces and they
painted using Tulip Fabric Paints with Tulip Sponge Pouncer brushes and wooden
blocks. I cut out feather shapes to add to the crown. Then cut apart canvas remnants for them to doodle on using Tulip
Fabric Markers. The crowns were then assembled using recycled jeans, painted fabrics & papers and
embellishments with Aleene's Fabric Fusion.

Style reMix is my monthly tutorial project using my FAVE ILoveTo Create products. Today I'm sharing a fun Halloween inspired tutorial to create DIY masks from recycled FedEx envelopes. This is a great project to create with the kiddos.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I'm visiting my family in Hawaii and spending a lot of quality art-making time with my nieces. We've been painting and art journaling everyday and creating fun Halloween inspired art. My nieces Nugget and Pua {our nicknames for them} are 2 and 4 years old. They are super creative and very independent already, they did all the painting, glittering and decorating themselves. Nugs, the youngest, kept saying "NO! Auntie Boo Boo, I want to do it". So I just provided all the fun supplies and embellishments, giving them pointers and a few painting demonstrations.

STEP ONE| create mask templates on paper by folding it in half and drawing half the mask. Cut apart a recycled FedEx envelope or manila folder and fold it in half. Trace the template onto a envelope, then cut out the mask. Unfold the cut out to reveal your mask shape. I created a butterfly shaped mask and a few other variations.STEP TWO| Place various ILoveTo Create Tulip Soft Fabric paints into a palette and use a Tulip Sponge Pouncer to apply paint onto the mask. I only brought a handful of paint colors with me including the primary colors. I let the girls choose their own colors and talked about mixing colors. I showed them how to create pink by mixing red and white paint. TIP: Teach the kids about color mixing when you paint. I also encourage them to try not to mix ALL the primary colors so they don't paint a "brown" mask. To avoid mixing too many colors, I teach them to wash out their brush by dipping the brush into water and pressing it into a paper towel. I explain how we will use the paper towels for collage in our art journals.

STEP THREE| Tulip SLICK Dimensional Paint and Tulip Fashion Ultra Fine Glitter. I show them how to use dimensional paint and add glitter to the mask. Pua used pink dimensional paint to trace the outline of the mask and added dots with a metallic color. She LOVES anything glitter! She sprinkled each color in small batches onto the mask. Set aside the masks to dry. Tulip Slick paint takes a few hours to dry {especially if it applied in thick lines} and 24 hours to fully cure.

STEP FOUR| CUT holes for eyes into mask. {this should be done by an adult or if your child is older please supervise} Draw the eye shape on the back side and cut it out using scissors or a craft knife. Fold the mask in half then trace the cut hole and cut out the second eye hole.

STEP FIVE| EMBELLISH the mask! Once all the paint is completely dry add feathers, beads and baubles. I took the girls shopping and let them pick out their own goodies and of course they chose all the glittery BLING sequins, crystals and multi-colored feathers. I showed the girls how to use Aleene's Taky Tape Roller to apply the feathers.

TIP: using a tape roller is a lot less messy and instantly glues lightweight items to surfaces. I helped them with the Tape Roller but Sissy Nugget wanted to do it herself again. :) To adhere the heavier items use Aleene's Tacky Glue.

STEP SIX| ADD a tie or holder. Glue chopsticks or a couple of painted skewers to the side of the mask to create a holder. Punch holes into the sides of the mask and attach ribbons to tie the mask around the back of your child's head.

Sissy Nugs with grandma! My mom helped during the evening art making session.

The girls being silly with Grandma! We had a fun couple of days creating our Halloween masks!

a few artful tips...

all of the Tulip paints are made for fabric but I also use them on paper.

experiment using various surface including fabric, recycle a pair of old jeans or tshirt to create a fabric mask

Talk about masks and how they are used in different cultures or theatre

show them pictures of masks...encourage them to draw the masks in their journals

create paper feathers and glue them to the mask

create a Mardi Gras mask during the season

collage paper onto the masks using Collage Pauge, then doodle over the top with pens or dimensional paints

let them explore without interruption or trying to correct or direct them

teach them how to use the materials safely

keep wet paper towels or baby wipes handy to clean up spilled paint

when working with ultra fine glitter, make sure to wash hands thouroughly and remind the kids not to rub their eyes

have the kids wear a painting smock or apron, the fabric paint is permanent

Happy creating...have a safe and fun Halloween! My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to those who were devestated
by Hurricane Sandy. I hope those of you who might not be able to
go outside to celebrate Halloween can use this project to keep the kiddos entertained and lift their spirits!

.PR + disclosure.

unless otherwise stated all content, images and texts are my own. please do not use anything without permission or without noting its origins on your blog or website. if you pin any images from this site please include the original source/photo credit. for more details please read the disclaimer.